Rich Kelly scored 20 points, 15 of which came in the second half during a comeback attempt, but the UMass men’s basketball team fell 80-72 against Richmond in its Atlantic 10 opener on the road Thursday.
Kelly hit three of four 3s after half as the Minutemen shaved a 19-point halftime deficit to two possessions but no closer. He also had a team-high five assists.
“We can’t have those careless turnovers like we did in the first half,” UMass coach Matt McCall said. “Those plays are deflating on the road. You can’t have that. I’m proud of our fight and our resilience, but we’ve got to be much better to start games off in Atlantic 10 play.”
The Spiders threatened to pull away early with a blistering offensive and defensive performance in a 50-point first half.
Richmond established an early lead with a 9-0 run after trailing 5-2. The Spiders then added another 9-0 run and a separate 8-0 run in posting their highest scoring half of the season.
Jacob Gilyard, the NCAA’s all-time steals leader, swiped four in the first half. Richmond stole two inbounds passes and converted them into points immediately. Richmond scored 19 points off 15 UMass turnovers.
The Spiders shot 64.7 percent from the floor before halftime. They generated 15 assists on 22 field goals.
UMass committed more turnovers (eight) than it generated assists (six) before halftime.
“Early in the game we weren’t doing anything at a high enough level to win,” McCall said.
UMass (7-6, 0-1) started the second half shooting straight. The Minutemen hit their first two 3s to narrow the gap. Trent Buttrick scored 14 of his 16 points in the second frame.
The Minutemen played a long stretch of the second half without leading scorer Noah Fernandes when he picked up his fourth foul with nine minutes left.
Rich Kelly bombed a deep 3 with 7:47 left to cut the lead to 67-57, its closest margin since Richmond led 20-12 with 11:31 to halftime. It was his second triple from well behind the arc.
“He’s working on crazy finishes, layups. He has a process and an approach and he’s got a confidence about himself,” McCall said. “Rich works on it, and his process is why he’s so confident. And he should be.”
Richmond put away seven of the next nine points to establish a 16-point lead 74-58 after Tyler Burton converted a turnaround jumper through contact on the fast break and made the free throw with 6:12 left.
Rich Kelly cut it back to 10 with a runner just after the clock ticked under 4 minutes remaining that made it 74-64.
Then Michael Steadman followed with UMass’ next three points on a free throw and fast break layup to bring UMass within seven at 3:19. It hadn’t been that close since the game’s opening 6½ minutes.
The Spiders corralled an offensive rebound on their next possession, and Fernandes was whistled for his fifth foul to be disqualified. Isaiah Wilson followed with two free throws to push the lead back to nine, and UMass turned the ball over without its point guard.
Rich Kelly got UMass as close as 6 with his fourth 3 of the game with a minute left. That made it 76-70. The Minutemen had a chance to cut it to a possession after a Richmond turnover, but Buttrick missed a leaning jumper trying to draw a foul.
Richmond made four free throws down the stretch to seal their first Atlantic 10 victory of the year (1-2).
Four Minutemen reached double figures. C.J. Kelly added 16 despite missing some of the game with muscle spasms, and Fernandes scored 10 points.
The Minutemen were playing in their first game since Dec. 17 against Fairfield after their previous three games were postponed by COVID-19 protocols. Only eight UMass players were available Wednesday because of health and safety protocols. T.J. Weeks and Javohn Garcia were unable to play because of COVID protocols and contact tracing.
It’s unclear who will be available Saturday against Duquesne at the Mullins Center.
“I have no idea. This thing changes every single day. I could get frustrated, but I’m not going to do that,” McCall said. “It’s constantly changing.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.